Whether you call it bush whiskey, white lightning, bathtub gin, mountain dew, corn liquor, hillbilly pop, stumphole, or just plain old 'shine, when you're down in Habersham County, Georgia, you're deep into Appalachian moonshine country. And when you're talking about moonshine country, you're talking about more than just corn squeezin's; it was a way of life.

When the young U.S. government took control of the alcohol trade and levied excise taxes to help recoup the expense of the Revolutionary War, it inadvertently fueled an underground culture that revolved around the production and sale of illegal liquor. Once those farmers ground their corn mash and distilled their spirits-often under the cover of night with only the shine of the moon to see by (Get it?)-if they didn't have a buyer, it was the bootlegger's job to transport and sell the 'shine. (Just for clarification, a bootlegger, or tripper, is the guy who transports and/or sells illegal whiskey, while a moonshiner is the one with the still.)

2/11The big polished and chromed Cobra engine certainly takes up all available real estate under the '40's hood. The air intake was rerouted to exit through the inner fender.

Back before the days of running liquor across state lines at high speed, the original bootleggers were American colonists who concealed the bottles in the top of their boots and pulled their pant legs down to cover them-so the term bootlegger was born. The bootleggers we're all familiar with, though, are the rowdy bunch of drivers that rip-roared through backroads in souped-up coupes. While NHRA can trace its roots back to the dry lakes of Southern California, NASCAR can do the same with those bootleggers and the effective backwoods engineering they concocted to outrun and outdrive the revenuers.

To this day, Appalachia remains a fiercely independent region with a great deal of cultural pride, including in its illicit activities. Though the stills have long since dried and most of the 'shiners and runners have long since moved on to more legitimate forms of business, there's still a local fondness for the car most identified with the moonshine culture: the '40 Ford coupe. But don't take our word for it; just ask Willie Clay Call or Junior Johnson about that. Willie still has 14 of 'em. Type in moonshine at HOTROD.com if you missed the story "White Lightning" in the Oct. '05 issue.

They may not be runnin' 'em like they used to, but to many Appalachian inhabitants, a '40 Ford with a souped-up engine and a distinct rake is the definition of a hot rod. The Moonshiner Festival in Dawson, Georgia, started by reformed moonshiner Fred Goswick back in the '60s, regularly boasts 100-plus '40 Fords.

3/11As a nod to the drivetrain's heritage, Jim Blackburn had a stock Cobra instrument cluster grafted into the custom dash.

There's never been a distillery in his backyard or 100 gallons of rotgut in his trunk, but Jim Blackburn is one of those Appalachian residents who feels a certain historical attachment to the '40 Ford. Though he's restored and rebuilt a dozen cars over the years, Jim had never gotten his hands on what he refers to as his "favorite car of all time."

"You just don't see many '40 Fords that are chopped up or customized, because Henry's design was excellent as it was," Jim tells us. "I searched for years and years and just never ran across the right car." Luckily, a friend who had a '40 business coupe stowed away with intentions to restore it decided he had too many projects and offered the car to Jim. Finally, he could build his dream car.

As a purist for the aesthetics of the '40, Jim knew he'd be keeping the body largely stock. In the grand moonshiner's tradition, he wanted something hot under the hood but also something to make it unique in a sea of '40s at a local show. He had a few ideas brewing-maybe an Olds Rocket or big Caddy engine-but they were all brushed away by one ride in an '03 Mustang Cobra. The smooth, linear acceleration and wail of the supercharged 32-valve 4.6L were exactly what he was looking for-and he'd never seen one in a '40 Ford before. Jim was soon to find out why.

4/11Maybe our favorite thing about Jim and his '40 is he's not afraid to drive it like a bootlegger. He was quite happy to take it fast through the turns at Road Atlanta for photos.

After taking some measurements, Jim could see he would have his work cut out for him to get the wide mod motor twixt the fenders. Right away, he saw he would have to rethink the location of some of the accessories as well as redesign the air intake. As Jim salivated over the thought of driving a Cobra-equipped '40 while looking the car over and taking notes on the things that needed to be modified, he began to realize the original chassis and suspension just weren't going to let him take full advantage of the available power.

Following more careful measuring, Jim sat down, put pen to paper, and laid down the chassis design he had in mind. To translate the sketch into steel, Jim called up T.C. Carver, an experienced chassis builder who'd worked for Bill Elliot Racing. After all, who would be more appropriate to design the ultimate tripper car chassis than a NASCAR fabricator?

5/11You'd have to sell of lot of 'shine to pay for an interior this classy. When Jim needs to keep his hands on the MOMO steering wheel through the corners, the column shift on the ididit column is backed up by Shrifter paddle shifters.

Starting with a custom set of rails ordered through Vision Rods and Customs in Cleveland, Georgia, T.C. bent up the rest and grafted in a Heidt's Superide independent front and rear suspension. Jim wanted to avoid buying a new crate engine, but Cobra engines aren't exactly easy to run across in salvage yards. A little digging around turned up a dealer that had one that was purportedly a Ford dyno test mule. Sounds like something we'd avoid like a bottle of ginger jake, but the deal was right and pickin's were slim, so Jim decided to chance it and had the engine shipped to T.C.

While T.C. tackled the chassis and drivetrain work, Jim pulled on his background as a wiring guy for AT&T and stayed busy making a stock Cobra wiring harness, a Ron Francis street rod harness, and a Baumann trans controller communicate with each other. When all the splicing was finished and the engine was fired for the first time, Jim and T.C. were surprised to find the dyno mule had two weak cylinders. Fortunately, the supplier stood behind the engine, and it was rebuilt to stock specs-well, internally anyway. While the engine was apart, Jim had the Eaton blower ported and a pulley from a Lightning installed to bump the output to 16 psi.

A traditional bootlegging tripper car would have had a stripped interior, but since he intended to drive the '40, Jim went the opposite way with plush leather and a full DVD and satellite radio system. "I have to confess to ya, though," Jim says, "I don't turn it on much because I'm just in love with the sound of the engine. That wail is good music. I could show it a lot more, but it's such a delight to drive. There's no telling how fast it will run, but there's comfort in knowing it responds as needed, stops quickly, and it handles the curves so well that it's hard to make it lean. The old moonshiners around here love it and really appreciate the honoring of the '40 Ford. They just wish they had something back then that accelerated and handled like this car." One thing's for sure, the revenuers woulda never seen it comin'.

Quick Inspection: '40 Ford business coupeJim Blackburn * Clarksville, GAPowertrainEngine: The '03 4.6L Mustang Cobra long-block was rebuilt to factory stock specs by Tim Matherly of MV Performance in Statham, Georgia. The Eaton supercharger was ported and given a stock Ford Lightning supercharger pulley to make 16 psi. Bassani mufflers and an cross-pipe give it a raspy sound.

Power: It's untested to date, but judging by similarly modified Mustangs, it should be in the neighborhood of 475 hp.

Transmission: An '01 Mustang AODE is controlled by a Baumannator trans computer from Baumann Electronic Controls.

Brakes: Dual-piston Wilwood discs take up all four corners. The front rotors are 12-inchers, while the rear are 11. A Flaming River proportioning valve sets the braking balance.

Wheels: The wheels are 16-inch steel gennies from Wheel Vintiques.Tires: Pirelli tires measure 215/70R16 in the front and 235/70R16 in the rear.

StyleBody: It is mostly as it left the Ford factory, but the decklid was shaved to clean up the rear. The bumpers were shortened slightly front and rear to tuck them closer to the body.

Paint: Pewter Metallic is the name of the House of Kolors basecoat/clear sprayed by Jimmie Meeks of Cleveland, Georgia.Interior: The comfy and supportive seats are also from an '03 Cobra, but without the headrests. The Vintage Air install, custom panels, and carpet were handled by the legendary Bobby Griffey of Knoxville, Tennessee.